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A four-ton radar observation satellite for the German military soared into orbit Saturday from California on top of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, beginning a 10-year mission to collect all-weather reconnaissance imagery.

A German military reconnaissance satellite rode a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket into orbit Saturday from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Liftoff is occurred at 7:19 a.m. PDT (10:19 a.m. EDT; 1419 GMT), and the Falcon 9’s first stage booster returned to Vandenberg for landing about eight minutes later.

SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 booster for a record-breaking 13th time Friday from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, hauling 53 more Starlink internet satellites into orbit as astronomers renew concerns about the growing brightness of the latest generation of the broadband relay spacecraft.

SpaceX launched a reusable Falcon 9 booster for a record-breaking 13th time Friday from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, hauling 53 more Starlink internet satellites into orbit. Liftoff from pad 39A occurred at 12:09 p.m. EDT (1609 GMT).

SpaceX teams in Florida and California are preparing for three missions from three launch pads in three days, beginning Friday with a launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida with a reusable Falcon 9 booster flying for a record 13th time.